Genealogy and Family History.
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Edna Berliner

Obituary by her son-in-law Chaim Freedman

On the 6th of Av 5768, August 6th 2008, Edna Berliner passed away in Melbourne one week short of her 92nd birthday.

Edna Berliner was born August 15th, 1916 in Carlton, the daughter of Rabbi Isaac Jacob and Lena Super. She had six brothers. In 1941 she married the late Reverend Phillip (Pinchas) Berliner, London born graduate of English and Eastern European Yeshivot who narrowly escaped the Holocaust and arrived in Australia in 1940. Edna was educated at St.Kilda Park State School and Melbourne Girls High School. Her Jewish education she received at Sunday school and basked in the rich tradition and love of Yiddishkeit of her parents.

Widowed at the age of 43 Edna was faced with the awesome task of bringing up three daughters, Muriel Kleerekoper (Sydney, deceased), Lena Pose (Melbourne) and Jane Freedman (Israel). Edna contributed ably to her father and husband’s communal activities. In her youth she acted as secretary to the late Rabbi Dr. Joseph Abrahams who spent his last years living with the Supers and treated Edna lovingly as if she was his daughter. She was active in the National Council of Jewish Women and the women’s auxiliary of South Caulfield Shule where she attended after nearly a half century living in Crimea Street, St.Kilda and attending St.Kilda Shule with which her father and husband were associated.

Edna was a wealth of information about communal history, particularly Carlton, and loved to talk about old times, people, Shule and Beth Din intrigues. She was interviewed by historians for material for their books.

Edna had a wide circle of friends who appreciated her keen sense of humour, warm hospitality, home wisdom and common sense.

In particular she staunchly maintained her love and allegiance to her father’s and husband’s Yiddishkeit. She read voraciously and diligently reviewed Parshat Hashavuah each week in preparation for Shabbat. She attended Shule every Shabbat until her health no longer permitted. Such was her inspiration in this respect that kind members of the congregation came to her home to blow Shofar, to bring her Lulav and Etrog and invited her to eat in their Sukkah. Deprived of the male role in the home after the death of her husband and father, she took on the task of making Kiddush, Zemirot, Benching and Havdalah, ever a staunch advocate for women’s equality in Judaism. Her habit of being ready for Shabbat and Chagim several days in advance was a source of good humour for her family.

Edna’s life was fraught by many illnesses that she coped with in courage and determination. She was like a cat with nine lives twice over and considered every day that she was spared as a blessing. In her latter years she was handicapped in her mobility but was determined to retain her independence and continue to live in her own home in dignity. Her last years were spent at Montefiore Homes.

She was scrupulous in account keeping and one of her typical sayings was “I hate owing money”. She loved shopping and would tell the shopkeepers “I’m looking for my daughter”. Despite her incapacity she diligently carried out her exercises and persisted to walk up her drive to collect the mail until she was no longer able and accepted the help of her neighbors with whom she maintained warm relationships.

She was a determined lady and typical was the occasion when visiting Israel and unable to find other transport to the Kibbutz where her daughter and son-in-law were staying, joined them hitchhiking, even when it involved clambering into the back of a van. On the Kibbutz she insisted in pulling her weight and spent the time of her visit there working in the communal kitchen and exchanging opinions with the ladies in a variety of languages. She traveled to Israel five times by herself and was daring enough one trip to book a tour and get her hair cut in Athens.

The highlight of one of those trips was her reunion in Israel with her brother the late Rabbi Dr. Arthur Saul Super, whom she had not seen for 51 years.

Edna always maintained contact with her many longstanding friends and made phone calls to enquire about their health and the wellbeing of their families.

She was very much part of Australian culture being the first of her parents’ children to be born in Melbourne. So she liked her little flutter on the Melbourne Cup. She was a fun loving parent who read and composed stories to her children when they were young and was not above playing “skippy” with them on a Shabbat afternoon. She liked a dip in the sea and took the children to St.Kilda beach on a Friday morning. In summer she would arise at 5 AM, get Shabbat prepared and thus have the whole day to take her daughters out. She was modest and would say, “I can always learn from my daughters”. She liked a good joke even if it was a bit risqué and had an infectious rollicking laugh.

Edna loved the movies and music. She had a number of favourite songs such as “Danny Boy”, “Roses Whisper” and “Esah Einei”, although her singing voice was ever a source of amusement for her family.

She used to jokingly say that she would come to Israel to help her daughter do the mending. She hated wastefulness and would save pencil ends, envelopes, jars and plastic bags. She loved her garden and had “Green fingers”. Her garden was a riot of colour and fragrance, winter and summer. Even when she had to walk with a frame she was determined to potter amongst her plants.

Always interested in current affairs at one time she worked voluntarily for a radio station collecting news items. Similarly she combed the newspapers and sent clippings to her family in Israel.

Edna was a proud grandmother and great-grandmother and called her extended family her “treasure”. She loved to entertain and cook them their favourite dishes. Her greatest pleasure she derived from being surrounded by her loving family. In particular her grandchildren and great-grandchildren after whose welfare she constantly enquired, despite them being spread over four continents.

She was loved and respected by her sons in law whom she treated as if they were her own sons.

Edna is survived by two daughters, six grandchildren and nineteen great-grandchildren.

Long will she be remembered – a true Eshet Chayil.

Eulogy at the funeral of Edna Berliner

Written and delivered by her granddaughter Deborah (Pose) Lazerow.

Edna Berliner was born August 15th, 1916 in Faraday St Carlton, the daughter of Rabbi Isaac Jacob and Lena Super. She had six brothers and was proud of saying that she was the first of the Aussie batch. Edna was educated at St.Kilda Park State School and Melbourne Girls High School and had classes at Government house. Her Jewish education she received at Sunday school and she basked in the rich tradition and love of Yiddishkeit of her parents.

In her youth she acted as secretary to the late Rabbi Dr. Joseph Abrahams who spent his last years living with the Supers and treated Edna as if she was his daughter. She was active in the National Council of Jewish Women and the women’s auxiliary of South Caulfield Shule.

In 1941 she married the late Reverend Phillip (Pinchas) Berliner, who arrived in Australia from London in 1940 and later became chazzan at St Kilda Shule, community shochet and bar mitzvah teacher.

Widowed at the age of 43 Edna was faced with the awesome task of bringing up three daughters, the late Muriel Kleerekoper, Lena Pose and Jane Freedman.

Throughout her life she staunchly maintained her love and allegiance to her Judaism. She read voraciously and diligently reviewed Parshat Hashavuah each week in preparation for Shabbat. She attended Shule every Shabbat until her health no longer permitted and continued to pray at home throughout her days. Such was her inspiration in this respect that members of the Shule congregation came to her home to blow Shofar, to bring her Lulav and Etrog and invited her to eat in their Sukkah.

Deprived of the male role in the home after the death of her husband and father, she took on the task of making Kiddush, Zemirot, Benching and Havdalah, ever a staunch advocate for women’s equality in Judaism. Her habit of being ready for Shabbat and Chagim several days in advance was a source of good humour for her family and continued to be the top of her mind even in her last days.

Edna’s life was fraught by many illnesses that she coped with in courage and determination. She was like a cat with nine lives and considered every day that she was spared as a blessing. In her latter years she was limited in her mobility but was determined to retain her independence and continue to live in her own home in dignity until her late 80’s. Edna had a green thumb and one of the saddest things for her to give up besides her independence and loving neighbors when she moved to the Montifiore was her beloved pot plants.

Despite her growing frailty she diligently carried out her exercises and persisted to walk up her drive to collect the mail until she was no longer able and accepted the help of her neighbors with whom she maintained warm relationships

She was a determined lady and typical was the occasion when visiting Israel and unable to find other transport to the Kibbutz where her daughter and son-in-law were staying, joined them hitchhiking, even when it involved clambering into the back of a van. She traveled to Israel five times by herself and was daring enough one trip to book a tour and get her hair cut in Athens. The highlight of one of those trips was her reunion in Israel with her brother the late Rabbi Dr. Arthur Saul Super, whom she had not seen for 51 years.

Edna always maintained contact with her many longstanding friends and made phone calls to enquire about their health and the wellbeing of their families, children and grandchildren.

Edna loved the movies and music. She had a number of favourite songs such as “Danny Boy” and “Roses Whisper” although her singing voice was ever a source of amusement for her family.

She used to jokingly say that she would come to Israel to help her daughter do the mending. An early environmentalist, she hated wastefulness and would save pencil ends, envelopes, jars and plastic bags. Always interested in current affairs at one time she worked voluntarily for a radio station collecting news items. Similarly she combed the newspapers and sent clippings to her family in Israel and her granddaughters when they traveled.

Edna was a proud grandmother and great-grandmother and was fondly known as Super Nanny.

Roses whisper good night neath the silvery light asleep in the dew while the dawn peepeth through. These words, sung out of tune and full of love, were the words that Nana used to sing us to sleep as kids. It was also the words that we whispered to her last night as she slipped into her final sleep.

It’s poignant that nana sang about roses because she herself was like a rose.Like a rose, Nana was held aloft by a strong stem. Her will and her faith gave her a strength that was hard to equate with such a frail elderly woman.

Nana’s personal motto was PMA – positive mental attitude. She strongly believed in the power of the mind to influence everything and kept her mind active by clipping newspaper stories for her loved ones overseas. To keep her mind positive, she always chose to surround herself with positive imagery. No matter the occasion, she always chose to wear happy colours, pretty beads and bright red lipstick and she always asked the same of the women that she loved. She was fond of saying that a woman is never dressed without her lipstick so for you nana, we are properly dressed today.

Her positivity was infectious. It was impossible to visit her without cheering up and the nurses and staff that cared for her , particularly those at Montifiore who showed such affection and professionalism always loved to pay her a visit. She never complained about physical discomfort, after all there was nothing that a bit of dencorub and a panamax couldn’t fix and nothing that avocado cream couldn’t make beautiful.

Nana was testament to the power of faith. A deeply religious woman, her life was steered and steeled by Judaism. This was epitomized by the fact that she held on to say shema and sing tehillim on her last night with, Rabbi Sufrin, who she called “her boyfriend” and who proved to be an amazing support to her and all our family over that past few years.

While she was still living at home, to visit Nana on a Friday afternoon was inspirational. Her table would be set immaculately with white table cloth and polished silverware. The kitchen would contain one setting of entree, soup decorated with parsley, main course, her famous coleslaw (when she remembered to put it on the table) and of course desert followed by biscuits to go with her tea. Her bedroom would be set up with her shabbes outfit, including her brightest jewellery, lipstick and shabbes shoes. She even kept a special pair of shabbes slippers to wear after dinner, which she often chose to eat alone to avoid breaking Shabbat by travelling to her family.

Nana had the self-respect to spoil herself for Shabbat and Yom Tov but her greatest love was spoiling others. Even at Montifiore she kept her not so secret stash of chocolates, wafers and suck lollies to share with all her visitors.

Like any flourishing rose bush, Nana had strong roots that she was proud of. While she was modest in her own right, she was always delighted to tell us about the achievements of her scholarly brothers, her elegant mother and her father who was a member of the Beth Din in Australia. Nana’s stories were filled with words about the rabbonim that the family would entertain in Crimea Street and the grand social gatherings that she attended with her accomplished brothers.

Like a the leaves on a rose, Nana has sprouted bountiful offspring and I know she was fulfilled to attend marriages of 3 daughters, dance at the weddings of three granddaughters, send messages to the weddings of two grandsons and to receive an invitation to the wedding next week of her great granddaughter, Mirel. Nana waited almost 90 years to give her debut speech in public and I’m sure many of you will remember the touch words that she delivered at both Karyn and my weddings. Into her later years, Nana could still remember all the important family dates and would be the first to call for birthdays, Hebrew birthdays, half birthdays and anniversaries.

Like the thorns of a rose bush, Nana had the surprisingly sharp barrier of self protection. A feminist before her time, her feistiness when her rights and comforts were at stake was renowned, even at Montifiore. But even with this assertiveness, her guiding principle was respect for everyone so she would demand a cup of HOT tea with a smile. She fought death on a number of occasions and only went when she was ready to go.

Although a rose is held aloft by strong stem, roots and leaves it is the perfumed flower that everyone admires and so it is with Nana. Nana’s Hebrew name was Yenta, and rather than the gossiping yenta of folk law, Nana adhered to her namesake in being a gentle woman with the softness of rose petals. Nana kissed and hugged with the softest of arms and cheeks. Last week mum celebrated her birthday and Nana still found the energy to give her 61 gentle birthday smacks, with one to grow on.

Our rose wilted 10 days short of her 92nd birthday but her perfume remains in all of us and we are truly blessed to have known this Eshet Chail.

Soofee

My activities

Chaim (Keith) Freedman was born in 1947 in Melbourne, Australia to parents of eastern European origins. He was educated at Mount Scopus College in Melbourne. In 1977, he immigrated with his wife to Israel.
Chaim is a noted genealogist having lectured at numerous genealogical and historical conferences including The International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, Jerusalem 1984,1994 and 2004. He has published his research in Avotaynu, Sharsheret Hadorot, Search, RootsKey, the Journal of the Australian Jewish Historical Society and Yated Ne'eman.
Freedman edited "Jewish Personal Names: Their Origin, Derivation and Diminutive Forms" by the late Rabbi Shmuel Gorr, published in 1992 by Avotaynu.
Freedman wrote several books about his immediate family, "Our Fathers' Harvest", a history of the Komisaruk and other families involved in Jewish agricultural colonization in the Ukraine, and "The Pen and the Blade", a history of the Super family.
Chaim Freedmans major work "Eliyahu's Branches, The Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and His Family" was published in 1997 by Avotaynu. The book is the culmination of thirty years of research of the Vilna Gaon, and includes 20,000 names with valuable biographical and historical details.
Freedman's particular expertise in Rabbinical genealogy was published in 2001 in his book "Beit Rabbanan, Sources of Rabbinical Genealogy". Much of the content of this book appears on the RavSIG site http://www.jewishgen.org/Rabbinic/
Freedman's presentation of Rabbinical genealogical sources has been published in Avotaynu's "Guide to Jewish Genealogical Research" (2004).
Freedman acted as a consultant to Beit Hatefutsot's exhibition on the Vilna Gaon in 1998. He provided material for Beit Hatefutsot's 1983 exhibition "The Jewish Agricultural Experience in the Diaspora".
Freedman has lectured to the Israeli Genealogical Society in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and to the Jewish Family Research Association in Tel Aviv and Petah Tikvah. His lectures always draw a good and attentive audience who appreciate the opportunity to hear of his activities in genealogical research and learn from his wide experience in using a range of valuable sources.
Many of his compositions appear on the Internet

My Photos

Some philosophy - stress avoidance

Learn to delay reacting. You can’t always prevent stressful situations from happening, but there are ways to help you prevent stress from taking over your body. Learn to recognize the first small signs of stress in your body, and immediately realize that you don’t have to react instantly! Take a deep breath. Take two or three. Look away, clear your head, excuse yourself and go someplace to meditate; do whatever it takes to put a bit of distance between you and your reaction to whatever it is that is stressful for you. Mentally step back and put the situation in perspective and ask yourself if you even need to respond? Will responding do any good? Will it help? Will it make a difference? Or will it make things worse. If it is not necessary for you to respond, let it go and focus on something else. If you do need to take action, consider first what might be best and what the outcome might be, and then make a deliberate choice based not on your emotions, but on your knowledge and the desired outcome. Above all else, take the time you need to step back from the situation before you respond or react in any way.

Torah and Genealogy

Torah and Genealogy
By Chaim Freedman
Reprinted from Eliyahu's Branches, the Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and His Family (Avotaynu 1997)
Yikhus (lineage) has always been an integral part of Judaism. In the opening chapters of the Bible, in the weekly Torah portion, the concept of recording the history of mankind appears with the use of the term Sefer Toldot Adam (Book of the history of man), Bereishit (Genesis) 5:1.
The Midrash (Midrash Rabba, Parasha 24) explains this term to indicate that Adam, the first man, was given a preview of all the generations that were destined to descend from him: God revealed to Adam each generation with its scholars, each generation and its wise men, each generation and its writers, each generation and its leaders. Adam was the only one who saw the yikhus which descended from him, until the end of all generations. (Yalkut Shimoni) The Midrash asserts that the Messiah will arrive only when all those generations that were predestined to live have in fact been born.
The course of the Biblical narrative revolves around the sequence of the generations, from the early generations descended from Adam, through the division of the nations descended from Noakh, and down to the Jewish Patriarchs: Avraham, Yitskhak and Yaakov (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). Each major figure is introduced in the Bible first by a narration of his descent, connecting him with all the previous generations. Thus, the great Jewish teacher Moshe (Moses) is introduced through his father's descent from the tribe of Levi.
From the time of the descent of the Children of Israel to Egypt and following their liberation from Egyptian bondage, their genealogy is noted at the very beginning of the book of Shmot (Exodus). Time and time again throughout the Bible, lengthy genealogical lists are recorded. The Torah includes 477 genealogical records. The Prophets and other books of the Bible include 2,756 genealogical records. Divrei Hayamim (Chronicles) is almost entirely concerned with genealogy.
For the Jews returning from the Babylonian Exile, it was particularly important that they retained knowledge of their descent. This knowledge conferred upon them their status in society, which was often based on their relationships with prominent families, in particular, the ruling House of David.
Those who had assimilated with their non-Jewish neighbours in Babylon found that their lineage was held in suspicion, particularly if they belonged to the priesthood. Such problems are portrayed in detail in the book of Ezra: They sought their genealogical records, but they were no longer available, and so they were banished from the priesthood. Those immigrants could not state which was their father's house or whether they were of the seed of Yisrael. (Ezra 2:62)
The Talmud in the Tractate Kiddushin (Chapter 4) stresses the importance of yikhus: Ten lineages emigrated from Babylon. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, does not bestow his Divine Presence, other than on Israeli families of noble Yikhus. Yet the Rambam (Mishne Torah, Hilkhot Melakhim, Chapter 12, Halakha 3) gives hope in the future for those who have lost the records of their lineage: In the time of the king Mashiakh, when his kingdom is established and all Yisrael are gathered, their lineage will be revealed by the Holy Spirit which will rest upon him, and he will announce to everyone in Yisrael to which tribe he belongs.
The Torah places importance on yikhus because man is influenced by the qualities and characteristics of his forefathers, both genetically and by the moral values that are passed from generation to generation. The book of Mishlei (Proverbs, 1:8) states: Heed, my son, the moral advice of your father, and do not abandon the teaching of your mother. The Gaon of Vilna comments on this sentence: Man has three partners: the Holy One Blessed Be He, his father and his mother.
This theme is taken up in the Talmud (Avot 3:1): Know from whence you came, and where you are going, and to Whom you will have to give account in the future. Only if we know from where we originate in terms of our family heritage will we be in a position to decide what path in life we should take in the future.
The late Rabbi Shmuel Gorr, who dedicated his entire life to genealogical research, believed: Just as we perform many Mitzvot as an act of zeikher le'maaseh bereishit (commemoration of the act of the creation), so the study of our family history can be considered as another aspect of this Mitzvah. When we see ourselves obligated to preserve the continuity of our people's existence in the world, so will we fulfill our task as it was prescribed by the Holy One Blessed Be He from the time of the creation of Man.
The study of genealogy, therefore, can be considered as an act of zeikher le'maaseh bereishit, as we seek to link ourselves, through the generations of our ancestors, with the first living man, Adam. Yet, from the outset, the Biblical commentators explained that illustrious lineage alone was not worthy of note. Commenting on the verses of Bereishit 6:9B10: These are the generations of Noakh; Noakh begat three sons. Rashi explains: The essence of the history of righteous men is their deeds.
One of the most comprehensive collections of genealogical quotations based on Jewish religious sources appears in Rabbi Yosef Zekhariah Stern's Zekher Leyehosef (1898). The following are some examples: It is worthy of all who seek righteousness to look to the rock from which they were hewn (Yeshayahu, Isaiah 52) and should be Asons of sons are a crown to the elderly, and the glory of sons are their fathers. (Mishlei, Proverbs 17) Like a crown without a kingdom and a gold ring in the nose of one who embraces garbage, so is the value of ancestral Yikhus without personal Yikhus to abandon evil ways. (Yalkut Shimoni; Rashi) If you see a Tsaddik who is the son of righteous fathers, he will not hastily sin (Midrash Mishlei 14) But what of the person who is not descended from ancestry worthy of note? Stern answers: It is important to the Almighty that man should abandon the ways of his ancestors (if they were not worthy) and follow the ways of God about whom it is said, "Peace to the distant, who is the seed of distant ones, but came close."Stern stresses the duty to perpetuate the memory of former generations: How can we not stretch out in our hearts to our ancestors who may be forgotten within two or three generations as if they never existed?
In our generation, after our ancestors left the countries where their families lived for many generations and emigrated to other countries, we should perpetuate their history. In particular we have a duty to immortalise the memories of the communities and families that perished for the sanctification of the Holy Name during the Holocaust or during anti-Semitic acts throughout the course of Jewish history: To do justice with the deceased and give them a memory upon the face of the earth.
The Midrash (Midrash Rabba, Parasha 37) explains the origin of man's naming system: The early generations that knew their lineage well, gave names to commemorate an event. But we, who do not know well our lineage, give names after our ancestors. The Gaon of Vilna comments on the term used in reference to a deceased person, "May the righteous be remembered for a blessing, and may the name of the wicked decay" (Mishlei, Proverbs 10:7): Remembrance is recalling that which happened in the past, that is, after the death of a righteous person, he is not just a memory, but he is a blessing. But as for the wicked, even his name is contemptible.
Throughout Jewish prayer the concept of recalling our ancestors is a recurrent theme. The central prayer of the three daily services, the Shmonah Esreh, begins with: God of Avraham, God of Yitskhak, God of Yaakov...remember the good deeds of our fathers and bring the redeemer to their sons' sons. Amongst the most important statutes given to the People of Israel, the Ten Commandments, is the commandment: Honour your father and your mother.... In the High Holy Day liturgy the relationship between God and man is couched in familial terms: If you regard us as sons, have pity upon us like a father. Our Father, our King....
The tracing of family history is a most effective way to appreciate Jewish history on a personal level. As we recite in the Hagaddah of the Pesakh (Passover) festival: In each generation man must regard himself as if he himself came out of Egypt, as it is said and you should relate it to your son on that day, saying... People make history by their reaction to the demands and opportunities of their environment. An awareness of personal family history establishes a link in the chain of Jewish existence.
Jews left Babylon and Eretz Yisrael and spread out through the Diaspora. Many of their genealogical records were lost. Yet certain families painstakingly preserved their traditions of descent. The scholarly family of the Kalonymides left Babylon about the eighth century, settled in Italy, and then moved to the Rhineland and France in the ninth and tenth centuries. From this family emanated the great Biblical and Talmudic commentator Rashi (1040-1105). Rashi's family and disciples established centers of learning in many towns in Western Europe and later, in the fourteenth century, in Eastern Europe.
Thus a vast interrelated dynasty of rabbinic families spread across Europe, establishing a framework for future genealogical research.
Sources: Many of the sources quoted above were collected by the late Rabbi Shmuel Gorr as part of an article he wrote titled "Torah and Genealogy."